Automatic elevator gate



. W. H. SHAFER AUTOMATIC ELEVATOR GATE' Filed June .'50,

1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jrwamkos MM5/MFE# April 20 1926. 1,581,477

W. H. SHAFER AUTOMATIC ELEVATOR GATE Filed June 30., 1924 v 2 Sheets-75mm 2 a-subject of theKing of England, and a resi, dent ofL Sacramento,v county of Sacramento, State ofICalifornia",l have invented anew. and

Patented pr. 20, 19263.

IQTED L11%.gfran-r ferri AUTOMATIC. ELEVATORv GATE.

' Application ledJnne 30, 1924. f Serial Nm. 723,317.

To all whom# may concern:

i Be it knownv that LWILLIAM' Hf SHAFER,

useful .Automatic KElevator' Gate, V'of which the following is V'aspeciication.

" This invention relates to elevator gatesfof the :sliding variety as. principally used on'V mw `freight elevators.

The objects'fofinvention aref-to pro-v vvide .simple apparatus actuated by` thefelevator in. ascending orldescend-ijngv whereby the gate on gates/ateach"l floor are. successively Iopened and .closed as the` elevator `'ap- .proaclies or. leavesv the .particular iloor'sglalso means controlled. vby,VL the elevator operator fo-r, rendering fthe. "gate openingfapparatns .existing .sliding gate,V and lalso,V Vsuch Kappa- 4 .ratus as. will. not. only l.openv Y.the ,gate but also permit it Mto `4close gentlyupon .motion of .the elevator.

,I..achieve-the objects outlined. byithe ap-y 5 `paratus-' shown in theaccompanying drawings and in which: f

Figure l is an elevation*ofthegateliftf y-ing and closinglapparatus showing the'sliding blocks tand connection .to gate. 'Figure 2. is. a side view of Figure l with portions K 1n opposite directlon. Since the ,;gate hangs broken out to show theispring blockrlatch.

Figurey 3 shows a c0mpound--pulley andV ropeI arrangement for lifting the; gate; a

greater distance than the sliding movement i' of the-block latch to reducingthe length of the apparatus Ifor a given movement' -of '.'Figure i shows '-in sectional elevation the elevator floor with trippingcontrol lever for gate.

frendering. the lifting apparatusV inoperative j at anydesired floor.' y v y:Figure 5'is` an enlarged 'sketch vof the en-- .gaging plate. Figure 6 is asimilar-sketch fofthe pin plate .upon wliich'the engaging 'plateslides, and Figure 7 Vis areducedplan yview of the elevatori' floor indicatingthe :relative positionsv 4of the various elements xinentioned.

V"In detail my apparatus consists` of indicated. l

a'. idouble 'track' omguideunit (1)'1to fbe "se-v cured vertically atv the side of the elevator` .shaft'adjacent the sliding door l(2) to be' `opened, preferably" twoV for eachdoor; one to .either side of the elevator so .theildoor. will beraised evenly by a rope (3)..at.,op posite points7 though if they gate .isf narrow :or: has longV guides, one hitch'will s'iiliice, or'if .desired a double rope may be usedand guided over any desired arrangement .of pulleys tov opposite points on' the' door.

The rope passes upward over a fixed-.pulley "(9)1 andthe end` offthe rope-issecured to a sliding block slidingvertically between the track members (5) .and (6)l and retainedktherein `by overlapping edgejsfas From the lower end of the 'blockis a nope or chain (7) extendingj downwardlytand around a pulley (8)," thence upwardlyaan'd .connected to/a similar.slidingblock),

slida'ble betweenmembers (5'). and "(6).

i The sliding gate thus hangs upon ,the rope lpulling thefblock (4) upward` andthe ylatter'through its 'rope l`(17),.pullsthe block (4!) downward.

To'resist` this -downwardfpull on .block (4): and keep'lthe rope v("7). taut so .thatithe sliding. blocks 'will be vproperly space d,

means is provided.to/.yieldingly pullfathe block (4') upward.`f"l`.his means.- canassume avariety of forms, it may be a .long..spi.ral

spring (10).secured tothe-'block at 1`1);'and to" the .guide unit. at 1.(12) ,they desired; function being to keep theblocks spaced and'. tied together s0 that as one is. moved alongthe` guide .in one.V direction,` theother will .move

on' the` rope (3). connected to .block (.4). it 1s manifest Vthat fin' the position". shownxirFigure l that the sliding of either block toward 4latch (18) `and '(l8)..is provided :respectivelyon'"the blocks softh-at the engaging means on V'the Eelevator will only push" the blockin one direction, i. e. toward the-center of the guide, 'and maylbe: released or tripped from.i engagement` withf the elevator .lat-a certain point of travel.

,This latch can assume many formsbut is here shown vas pivoted vtothe I.block at (19) and workinglfreely in aV depression in'the Vblock whereby it'. may swing "downf'at an angle as shownlat (20)"'inFigure 2 or tothe p0siti'on`( 21 perpendicular to` the iblock. -A spring (22) which has one end inserted in wai groove of the block is provided to normally hold the block perpendicular projecting' above the tracks.

In Figure 2 it will be observed that the guides or tracks for the blocks are both slanted at their central portions X away from the vertical line (23), and this is for the purpose of trapping the blocks under the latch engaging means carried by the elevator and which consists of a steel plate (24) slidable to and from the elevator (32) on guiding pins (25) .carried by a pin plate (26) secured to the side edge of the elevator, or one to each side Where double units are used for each gate.

These plates are arranged to lie against the outer surface of the guide members (5) and (6), (5') and (6') to engage the latches of the blocks during the travel of the elevator but may be pulled back on their respective pin plates and out of engagement with the guides by means of a hand lever (27) connected to suitable linkage (28) whereby rods (29) secured to the plates will slide the plates on the pins.

The rods (29) are suitably guided for sliding action in bearngs (30) and also have a branch or brace (3l) extending and secured to the plate to prevent it from tipping.

In operation, assuming the elevator to be at a higher story and descending, the plate will engage latch (18) and pull it downward with its block (4), thereby raising the gate (2) by the rope (3). l/Vhen the plate descends to the position as dotted at (24) on Figure 1, the block will have started over the slanted part of the track thereby draw-A ing the latch away from engagement with the plate. In the figure the latch (18) as dotted at A is supposed to be withdrawn so that the plate is about to ride over it uponV further downward movement.

In the meantime, the other block (4') has been pulled upward by the spring mentioned, its latch has contacted the plate and swung back and passed under the plate as indicated atB.

When once under the plate the latch (as at B) is trapped,`for the block cannot then be withdrawn as the latch will try to assume a perpendicular position through means of its spring and thereby wedge itself under the plate in any attempt to slide the block baclwardsjover the slantedportion of the trac Then upon continued descent of the elevator the plate passes over the latch A as `well as B, but by reason of the notch or cut out corner (33') of the plate, the latch B is released just before the latch A with the result that the latch B rises in its block and engages the notched edge of the plate and permits the block `(4') to descend with the elevator, and consequently the gate until the i latter is closed.

Upon upward movement of the elevator the operation is just the same except that block (4') is first lifted (also the gate), the blocks are trapped, and block (4) is first released over the lower notched corner (33).

It will thus be seen that the gate opens VWhen an elevator is being used for.

through service the operator may use the hand lever (27) to pull the plates away from the guides so that they will not engage the latches and push the lever back again just before reaching the Hoor where it is desired the gate should again operate.

If it should be desired to stop the operationV of a gate at any particular floor for a considerable time, this may be Vbest accomplished by simply unhooking the rope from the gate at (36) and placing on the hook a Vweight lighter thanrweight (15) so that both blocks will be drawn by the heavier weight into the depressed or slanted portions ly inoperative.

VIn installing my apparatus it is arranged so that the blocks (4) and (4') are trapped at the time the elevator is at the floor level and thus with gate fully opened.

I claim: r

l. In an elevator, a vertically slidable gate, a vertically slidable block guided on a track arranged adjacent the elevator shaft, a flexible element extending from thejblock over a pulley to the gate whereby the gate is lifted upon sliding the block, and a movable device carried by the elevator adapted for engagement of the block upon travel of the elevator and for movement out of engaging position for free passage over the block, said movable device comprising a plate supported and guided for movement in and out from the elevator, linkage secured to the plat-e for movement thereof and an operating lever connected to the linkage.

2. In an elevator, a slidable gate, a slid able block guided on a track arranged adjacent the elevator shaft, a flexible element extending from the block over a pulley to;

the gate whereby the gate is lifted upon sliding the block, and a movable device carried by the elevator adapted for engagement of the block uponV travel of the elevator Vand for movement out of engaging position for free passage over the block, said movable iso device comprising a plate supported and guided for movement 1n and out from the elevator, linkage secured to vthe plate for movement thereof and an operating lever connected to the linkage.

3. In an elevator7 a slidable gate,k a' slidable block guided on a track arranged adjacent the elevator shaft, an element extending from the block to the gate whereby the gate 10 is lifted upon sliding the block, and a movable device carried by the elevator adapted for engagement of the block upon travel of `the elevator and for movement out of engagfrom the elevator, linkage secured to thev plate for movement thereof and an operat-V ing lever connected to the linkage.

WILLIAM H. SHAFER. 

